Annex Advisory Services LLC Sells 221,431 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Annex Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 95.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,616 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 221,431 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,949 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 292,101 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $19,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,366 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 6,726 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502 shares during the period. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth $1,586,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of AOS stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,316,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,247,253. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $65.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.74. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.